Such has been Pollock’s impact that already children at rugby clubs across England have been spotted running around with black head tape on, scoring tries and imitating his pulse-checking celebration.

Northampton’s club shop does a roaring trade in sales of black head tape, which Pollock wears to protect his ears.

But his influence goes further than that.

Former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll came home from covering last Saturday’s game against Italy in Dublin to find his son dressed as Pollock.

Bordeaux Begles players mocked Pollock, who ended up in a final-whistle scuffle, in their post-match celebrations after winning last season’s Champions Cup final.

“Pollock is an outstanding rugby player and I think he is brilliant for the game,” former Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol told Radio 5 Live.

“My daughters are 25 and 22 and they don’t know who Tom Curry or Ben Earl are. They know who Henry Pollock is.”

In less than six months, he went from being an England Under-20 player to playing for the British and Irish Lions.

“He is a great character and I got on well with him on the Lions tour in a weird kind of way,” said assistant coach Johnny Sexton, who received a tongue-in-cheek 40th birthday message on tour off Pollock.

A number of solo tries – one which cut open Leinster in a Champions Cup semi-final win and a remarkable chip-and-chase against Sale Sharks – showed Pollock has the speed and finishing prowess of a Test winger.

That ability to turn a game on its head, with a moment of magic, was missing for England in their defeat by Scotland last weekend.

Former Ireland wing Shane Horgan added on BBC 5 Live: “He does things that few others can, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a spectacular moment by him [against Ireland] that galvanises England’s performance.

“You’ve got an extremely highly skilled, massively talented individual who has enormous self-confidence, and that confidence has not been blunted by anything yet.

“That is when you get those generational players. They have all the components but also this bullet-proof confidence, which means they can just keep on delivering throughout their career.”

Bruno Fernandes has been a talisman for Manchester United during a difficult period and he has been told to make a decision on his future despite his importance to the club

Bruno Fernandes’ importance to Manchester United in recent seasons cannot be understated. “Shut down Bruno, United won’t score!” said Ange Postecoglou of his Tottenham side’s plan in the Europa League final.

The Portugal international has been central to most positive actions on the pitch for United since he arrived at Old Trafford. It has not been enough to reestablish the club at the top of the Premier League, but no opposition coach can take on United without thinking about how to contain him.

“I knew if we shut down Bruno [Fernandes], they weren’t going to score,” Postecoglou said. “I just felt with United, the way they set up with Ruben [Amorim] and the kind of ways they would try to break us down if we were really solid defensively, as long as we scored, we had to get a goal.”

Since that devastating result, Fernandes’ future has been thrown up in the air. While the club signed figures such as Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha in a bid to alleviate the pressure on Fernandes, the talisman still has 18 goal contributions this term, six more than any of his teammates.

That was not always destined to be the case. Fernandes has admitted he weighed up a move to Saudi Arabia and spoke to Al-Hilal over a potential transfer last year after United showed little determination to keep him. The star ultimately preferred to stay put despite the Saudi club being prepared to bid £100million and offer weekly wages of up to £700,000.

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Fernandes has since admitted he was saddened by United’s stance. “From the club I felt it was, ‘If you go it’s not so bad for us.’ It hurts me a bit,” he said.

“More than hurting me, it makes me sad. I’m a player that no-one can criticise, I’m always available, I always give my best. I could have left in this transfer window, I would have earned much more money. I would have won many trophies this season but I decided not to go, not only for family reasons but because I genuinely love the club.”

But now, Fernandes has been told to consider his future once again. Former United striker Louis Saha believes it is imperative for the playmaker to be selfish.

Saha told CasinoHawks: “I think for the respect that we all have for Bruno Fernandes, I think he’s a terrific player, he has to consider his future because, looking at the strategy of INEOS, the way they think is very uncertain. It’s really difficult to anticipate.

“I can imagine a player of his stature, who has delivered as much as he has over the years, has to think about himself at some point. Those people at the top think about the club, and they think about their own position. The reality is, you can love the club as much as you want, it doesn’t matter. At some point, you have to make your own decision.

“This isn’t to say, ‘Bruno, you have to go.’ No, he has to think about his own career. It’s not only about trophies because we know 100%, I have no doubt about that, that Bruno wants to win a major trophy with Manchester United.

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“It would be his proudest moment because he really loves the club and he’s shown that with his dedication. He was disappointed because he has seen, he has heard some behaviour around his future that he didn’t like, so it’s up to him to make the decision.

“But he also has to consider staying as well if he feels that the club and the staff are really behind him, because he needs the support to go out there and be the captain we need.”

Elina Svitolina defeated Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7(13), 6-4 in a gripping semifinal at the Dubai Tennis Championships, to advance to her first WTA 1000 final in eight years.

Svitolina was forced to save multiple break points at 4–4 in the deciding set before holding firm and eventually closing out the victory. Thus win marks her second win over Gauff this season and gives her a 3–2 lead in their head-to-head series.

This will be Svitolina’s 24th WTA final, her sixth at the WTA 1000 level, and her third in Dubai, the first since 2018. It is also her first WTA 1000 final since becoming a mother. With the win, she secured her 46th career victory over a Top 10 opponent and extended her record as the player with the most match wins in Dubai history (24).

After the match, Svitolina reflected on the intensity of the contest.

“I’m speechless after that fight. I was really trying to put myself out there and was playing like there is no tomorrow. Trying to put all the effort. Thank you so much for your support. Really really special to be again in the final here after a few years and have another chance to lift that beautiful trophy.”

She also acknowledged the challenge posed by Gauff.

“Coco is such a big fighter. I was expecting that she would come back in the match. She won so many big battles, big tournaments. I had to keep fighting, keep pushing. I’m very pleased with the fight and with the win today.”

Svitolina will face Jessica Pegula in the final. Pegula leads their head-to-head 5–3, though Svitolina has won two of their last three meetings, including their most recent encounter in Indian Wells last season.

Constitution Hill – one of National Hunt racing’s biggest names – returned to winning ways with a commanding switch to the Flat at the Road To Cheltenham Novice Stakes.

Having triumphed in his first 10 races, the once-seemingly unbeatable horse had fallen three times in four outings.

In an attempt to get back on track, trainer Nicky Henderson entered him in the mile-and-a-half Flat race at Southwell, before a possible tilt at March’s Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, which he won in 2023.

Starting 6-4 favourite and with five-time champion jockey Oisin Murphy in the saddle, the move paid off as the nine-year-old took to the front well before the line and held firm to win by nine-and-a-half lengths from Square Necker and Gambino.

“He felt like a machine,” Murphy told ITV afterwards.

“It went to plan. It would’ve been very easy for me to blast off in front, but I wanted to get in among them and give him an idea of what a Flat race is like.

“For a big horse that’s been jumping, he has a lot of speed and he’s a joy to ride.”

Henderson, meanwhile, said the emphatic display under the Nottinghamshire course’s floodlights would “open up a lot of doors”.

“We’ve been through a few tears over the last year or so,” he admitted. “It’s nice to be back with positive vibes.

Brazil forward Neymar is reportedly considering retirement at the end of the current season, stating he is “living year to year”.

The 34-year-old, who joined boyhood club Santos last year from Saudi side Al-Hilal, has faced recent injury problems, including a knee issue.

Despite this, he hopes to feature for his country in this summer’s World Cup, though he remains under contract until the end of 2026.

“I don’t know what will happen from now on, I don’t know about next year,” he told Brazilian channel Caze.

“It may be that when December comes, I’ll want to retire. I’m living year to year now.

“We will see what my heart decides. It depends on what my heart says later in the year.

“This year is a very important year, not only for Santos, but also for the Brazilian national team, as it’s a World Cup year, and for me too. I wanted to play this season totally 100 per cent.”

Neymar, who is Brazil’s leading scorer of all time with 79 goals in 128 caps, has played at three World Cups. The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star has not featured for the five-times World Cup winners since 2023 due to a succession of injuries.

In December, Neymar underwent successful surgery on his knee by the Brazilian national team’s doctor Rodrigo Lasmar.

“An arthroscopy was performed to treat a medial meniscus injury. The surgery was a success, and the athlete is doing well,” Santos said at the time.

Neymar previously shared the stage with singer Thiaguinho to issue a bold promise to the nation, trying to incentivise Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti to bring him back into the fold.

“We are going to do everything possible, even the impossible, to bring this World Cup back to Brazil,” declared the forward. “In July, you can hold me accountable. Come on, Ancelotti, help us out, okay?”

When once asked about Neymar returning to the national team, Ancelotti said he must be fit if he is to earn a recall to the squad for next summer’s tournament held across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Brazil will face Scotland, 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco and Haiti in Group C.

Angers take on Lille at the Stade Raymond Kopa in a Ligue 1 match this Sunday.

Angers are currently in 11th, while Lille are up in 5th, five points ahead of their opponents this weekend.

So can Lille keep up the pace and continue to push for a potential Champions League spot, or will Angers pick up a valuable home win?

Angers vs Lille Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Lille have won their last three matches against Angers, and have only lost once at the Stade Raymond Kopa since 2018.
• Angers fell to defeat at the hands of Lorient last weekend, ending a two-match winning streak that saw them defeat Metz and Toulouse. However, the fact that both of those wins came by a single goal means that Angers have only scored two in their last four games.
• Despite Lille’s high league position, they actually haven’t been on the best form in recent weeks. In fact, their only win in their last ten matches came in the Europa League against Freiburg. They fell to defeat in that competition on Thursday against Crvena Zvedza, and have not won in Ligue 1 since December 14th.
• More worrying for Lille should be the fact that their goals have all but dried up, despite them scoring 35 thus far. Since scoring four in December to beat Auxerre, they have only managed two in their last six league games.
• Given the lack of goals between these sides in recent weeks, it shouldn’t be a surprise that historically, games between them have been low-scoring. In fact, none of their last six meetings have produced more than two goals.

Angers vs Lille Prediction

Given Lille’s miserable run of form, this match could be a difficult one to predict, even if they are the superior side on paper.

One thing is likely for certain and that is a lack of goals, as neither team has been high-scoring in recent weeks and historically, this match has not produced many.

Overall, then, given Angers have the home advantage – and have won their last two at the Stade Raymond Kopa – it’s hard to pick a winner here. The prediction is a draw.

Prediction: Angers 1-1 Lille

Angers vs Lille Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result – Draw.

Tip 2: Game to feature fewer than 2.5 goals – Yes (the last six meetings between these sides have produced fewer than 2.5 goals).

Tip 3: Lille to be winning at half-time – Yes (Lille have been leading at half-time in their last three matches with Angers).